Nigeria's Buhari asks U.S. for help in returning stolen assets

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari has asked the United States for help in
returning stolen Nigerian assets stashed in U.S. banks as part
of his efforts to crack down on corruption, according to a
statement from his office on Thursday.

Buhari made the request during a meeting with U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry on the sidelines of a two-day nuclear
security summit in Washington.

"President Buhari sought and received an assurance from Mr.
Kerry that the United States Government will facilitate the
repatriation of all stolen Nigerian funds found within the
American banking system," his office said.

Buhari told Kerry it would "greatly help our country if you
assist us to recover all our stolen funds which we can establish
to be within your financial system," according to the statement.

It said Kerry assured Buhari the United States would help
and said U.S. officials would meet with the head of Nigeria's
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to discuss further
cooperation.

State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Kerry
had offered "continued U.S. support to locate and help with
tracing and investigating looted funds, as we have done for
Nigeria in the past."

In 2014 the United States took control of more than $480
million that former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and his
associates had siphoned away into banks around the world.

Washington has broad powers to track suspicious funds and
enforce sanctions against individuals.